Originally my head was in the clouds and I thought i was willing to pay an arm and a leg for a photographer… well i now realize I need to be a bit more budget saavy. I found this lady who charges $1700 for 12 hours, two photographers, and a photo album.

What do you think!

EDIT* ugh it’s not even that early and my brain isn’t on yet…haha HERE is the website that i had meant to add originally. Sorry about that!

@Tallulah_: In my area, pricing that low generally means you’re compromising on experience and/or quality. But I’m sure there are some gems out there, and not every city is the same. A link to your photog’s website would be helpful!

@Tallulah_: I think she’s just okay. There are some great pictures, some bad pictures, and a lot of just-fine pictures in her portfolio. That’s about what I would expect given her price.

Do you have more to spend on a photographer? If you do, I would probably try to get someone better. If not, I might still consider getting less coverage (1 photog, less time, no album) and a better photog. BUT if you want a lot of coverage and an album (tradeoffs, tradeoffs), I think that her pricing and her product line up reasonably.

@Tallulah_: Don’t rush this decision. It is one of the most important ones you will make for your wedding.

As for her work it is okay. That is a reasonable price for middle of the road photography, especially for my area. We paid about $3,800 for our photographer. I don’t know where you live so obviously cannot compare.

Enh, I wouldn’t say she’s very good. When I was looking for a photographer, I knew that I wanted to look at his/her website and LOVE the photos that are on there. A website should be a portfolio of a photographer’s BEST work — after all, if they’ve shot even one or two weddings they’ll have thousands of photos to choose from. I flipped through about 50 pictures on the website and not a single one made me take pause and say “ooh!”

I think you can definitely find a better photographer for that price — but you’re going to have to choose quality over quantity. I have the same general budget and my package has one photographer for 7 hours, plus an engagement shoot – and I get all the hi-res images with a substantial print credit. You probably only need 6-8 hours of photography to cover the whole day (I’m doing 2:30-9:3). A second shooter may get you more shots, but not better shots (it could be her 15 year old son for all you know). Not worth it. Also, albums are super expensive if done well — is this important to you? I think we live in a digital age — albums are outdated and not worth the $500 to do it well. just my thoughts 🙂

Personally I don’t love her work, her framing seems a bit off and I am surprised by the amount of pictures where faces are shadowed. There are also a few that look overly reliant on filtering or over-editing.

But, in that price range I don’t know that you’d get a whole lot better. Where I live you really do need to spend in the avenue of 3500-5000 for really outstanding photography + great coverage, at least going off my research. Overall I’d say keep looking.